holmes



Sept. 6, 1932.

Filed April 11, 1951 C. D. HOLMES FURNACE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor Sept. 6, 1932. c. D. HOLMES FURNACE Filed April 11, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Irwentar zit/army:

Patented Sept. 6, 1932 UNITED: STATES CHARLES D. HOLMES,OFSANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA FoRNAcE Application filed April 11,

This invention relates to an ore roasting furnace and a condenser therefor.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a simple, substantial, cheaply manufactured furnace and condenser which is particularly adapted for roasting ores or substances containing volatile metals such as quicksilver, zinc, etc," and which is so constructed that continuous operation, and practi cally perfect extraction, maybe obtained without the employment of skilled furnacemen or operators, and without subjecting the operators to the danger of becoming poisoned by the mercury fumes.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an ore roasting furnacein which the products volatilized from the ore are carried from the furnace to the condenser by natural draft and from which the condensed 2 products will leave due to gravity;

It is a further object of this invention to provide an ore roasting furnace with means for regulating the amount of air drawn into the roasting retort by natural draft and for 5 oxidation.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a relatively large lire box to equalize the temperature of the products of combus tion and a separate heating chamber for the retorts and to provide a diffusing passage between the fire box andheating chamber which may be made of fire brick arranged like a checkerboard to prevent the entire blast of M the fire from impinging against any one of the retorts and so that the retorts will be heated evenly and to prevent over-heating or burning of the retorts, which will also assist in supporting the roof of the furnace.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a furnace and condenser for recovering oil from oil shale. I

Other objects and advantages of the in vention will be apparent as the nature of the same is more fully. understood from the following description and accompanying draw ings, wherein is set forth what is now considered to be a preferred embodiment. It should be understood, however, that this particular embodiment of the invention is chosen principally for the purposeof 'exemplifica} 1931. Serial No. 529,332.'

tion, and that variations therefrom in details of construction or arrangement of parts may accordingly be effected and yet remain within the spirit and scope of the invention, which consists of the parts and combinations of parts as the same is set forth in the ap pended claims.

- In the drawings:

' Figure 1 is a partial top plan view illustrat- V in a portion thereof in section; v I v 6,, igure 2 is a sectional ew taken substantially along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, and'looking in the direction of the arrows;

1 Figure? is a sectional view takensubstantially along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and look- 5 ing in the direction of the arrows; and i Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmental view, partially in section, of the collector pipe: and perforations therein; 7 I a The preferred embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in the drawings, includes, generally, a furnace structure 1 'in'which'is mounted a plurality of ore roasting retort tubes 2 and each retort tube is provided with means for collecting the volatilized products and conducting the same to a condenser 3.

The furnace 1 is upright and rectangular in form and may be built ofconcrete or brick and includes the side walls 4, end walls 5 and the floor 6, while the interior of the furnace o is divided into two fire box compartments 7 and a heating compartment 8 by suitable lire brick bafile walls 9 and the heating compartment 8 is divided into six heating chambers 10 by fire brick bafl'le walls 11. g

The fire brick forming the upper portion of the baffle Walls 9 and 11 is arranged like a checkerboard to provide'a great number of small openings between the fire box and heating chambers, which not only act to support 9' the roof of the furnace but also to diffusethe products of combustion sweeping from the fire boxes into the heating chambers and pre vents the entire blast from impinging directly against the retorts. The checkerboard arrangement of the fire brick in the upper portion of the baffle walls 11' permits the equalization of pressure between the different heating chambers, 'and' for this reason the small square hole 12 is positioned in the lower 10o ing chambers is composed of slabs or tiles 17 of fire clay or concrete which may be of one or more thicknesses.

An I beam 18 is provided above each baflle wall 11 and is supported by the furnace walls 4%. Extending across the top of the I beams 18 is a plate 19 preferably, of iron.

An ore bin 20 is mounted'upon'the plate 19 and consists of side members 21 which extend across the furnace abutting against the furnace endwalls 5 and may be secured upon the plate 19 by any suitable means. 7

One or more openings 25 through each side wall of the furnace is provided for the burners which may be of any standard form or type and therefore have. not been shown.

The plate 19 and the heating chamber roof slabs 17 are provided with spaced openings of a diameter just sufiicient topermit each retort tu be ,2 to be lowered into position and adjacent the upper end of each retort tube is clamped a collar 26 which engages the plate 19.to prevent further lowering of the retort tube when the retort tube has reached the desired position. It will be noted that the retort tube is lowered into position and may thereafter be removed'without disturbing the furnace structure.

The lower end of each retort tube 2 extends a short distance into a hopper 27 which extends through the furnace floor 6 and which is provided with an extended discharge opening 28 of sufficient length to prevent the free flow of ore from the hopper.

It will be noted that the upper end of each retort tube extends into the ore bin 20,

and'that there are two retort tubes positioned in each of the heating chambers.

7 Thereis provided a collector pipe 30forv each retort tube. The pipe 30'extends from above the ore bin througi the retort tube and also through the hopper 27 and is provided. with a plurality of perforations which extend along the collector pipe 30 from a point slightly below the roof of the furnace to a point adjacent the lower end of the retort tube. The lower end of the collector tube 30' is provided with a cap 31 through which extends an air inlet pipe32 which is bent at its upper end as at 33 to prevent dust from accumulating and clogging the air inlet pipe, while to the lower end thereof is connected an air regulator valve 34. Connected to the; upper end of each collector pipe 30 is a cross 40 to eachside of which is suitably connected similar cross pieces -11 into which suitable condenser tubes 42 are connected. Pipe plugs 43 are screwed into the cross pieces 40 and 4:1 to which pipes are not connected, and it will be observed that by removing the pipe plugs 43 the collector pipe 30 and the condenser tubes 42 can be easily cleaned out.

By the arrangement just described, it will be observed that the condenser tubes 42 may be inclined as illustrated in Figure 2, whereby, as the volatilized products condense they will flow by gravity from the condenser into the receiving trough 44 and it should be noted that the discharge ends of the condenser tubes 42 are located slightly above the uppermost perforations in the collector tube 30.

Figure 4 illustrates an enlarged partially sectional View of the collector pipe 30 and the perforations therein, which are made by boring a hole in an upwardly direction through the pipe with a welding torch and then, while hot, swedging the edge of the metal is still the hole out to form a lip around the upper edge thereof to assist in preventing fine ore dust from sifting into the collectorpipe.

The operation of the furnace is as follows: Suitable fire is maintained in the fire boxes which are of sufiicient size to permit substantially complete combustion and equalization oftemperature before the hot gases pass through the checker-work of thebafile walls into the heating chambers so that the heat is evenly distributed around and along the retort tubes and then passes through the opening 13 into the chimney and out of the furnace.

As all of the retort tubes open into the ore bin 20, it is only necessary to keep the ore bin filled to insure an ample supply of ore for each retort and also the ore in the bin" acts to prevent the volatilized products from escaping from the bin end thereof.

The hopper 27 is designed to permit the ore to be removed from the hopper through the opening 28 by means of a hoe or sluice bar and as the roasted ore is removed from the hopper fresh ore from the bin feeds into the retort tubes and replaces the ore which has been withdrawn and by this means the operator may regulate the flow of ore through the furnace.

The air regulating valve 34 is adjusted to admit just the correct amount of air to oxidize the sulphur contained in the cinnabar.

The volatile or gaseous products which are driven from the ore during the roasting, pass through the perforations into the collection pipe and as these gases, which have been expanded due to the high temperature of the retort, are lighter than the surrounding atmosphere, are therefore forced upward and 1 are carried by the collector pipe mto the top of the condenser tubes, which, as previously stated, are inclined downward so that the hot gases tend to remain in the upper end of the condenser tubes but are gradually forced down the condenser tubes by the continued supply of gases discharged from the retort.

As the hot gases are forced to move down the condenser tubes, they radually cool until finally the products which have been volatilized, such as the mercury, condense into their liquid state and due to the inclination of the condenser tubes flow therefrom into the receiving troughs. I

The operation just described is continuously carried on and the operator from time to time removes the roasted ore from the hopper to permit fresh ore to be roasted to feed into the retort. As each retort tube is indepcndently suspended and supported inthe furnace, it is an easy matter to replace a dam aged retort tube without the necessity of dissembling the furnace. lso, each retort tube is free to expand or contract without causing any strain thereupon.

It will be noted that the lower end of each retort tube loosely extends into its respective hopper and that the ore which accumulates in the hopper acts to seal the opening between the retort and hopper.

It is understood that the embodiment of the invention described herein is only one of the many embodiments this invention may take, and I do not wish to be limited in the practice of the invention, nor in the claims, to the particular embodiment set forth.

What I claim is: I

1. In an ore roasting furnace, a main heating chamber and a fire box, a plurality of open ended retort tubes extending through the heating chamber, a perforated pipe extending through each retort tube, a condenser means connected to the top end of each of said perforated tubes, an air controlling means connected to the bottom end of each of said perforated tubes, an ore bin surrounding the upper open ends of the retort tubes to permit a continuous delivery of ore, and a receiving plat-e spaced from, and mounted below, the lower open ends of the retort tubes.

2. In an ore roasting furnace, a vertically disposed ore roasting retort, a vapor collector pipe extending through said retort and perforated a portion of its length in said retort, a downwardly inclined condenser tube con nected at its upper end with the upper end of said vapor collector pipe, and means mounted upon the lower end of said Vapor collector pipe for admitting a predetermined amount of air therein.

3. In an ore roasting furnace, a vertically disposed ore roasting retort, a vapor collector pipe extending through said retort and perforated for a portion of its length in said retort, a plurality of inclined condenser tubes having their upper ends connected to said vapor collector pipe and their lowermost ends located above the perforations of said vapor collector pipe, and means mounted upon the lower end of said vapor collector pipe for admitting a predetermined amount of air into said collector pipe.

Signed at Los Angeles, California, this 1st day of April, 1931. p

CHARLES D. HOLMES. 

